flex-layout
Provides HTML UI layout for Angular applications; using Flexbox and a Responsive API
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Quick Overview
Angular Flex Layout is a powerful layout engine for Angular applications. It provides a flexible and responsive layout system using Flexbox and CSS Grid, allowing developers to create complex layouts with ease. The library is designed to work seamlessly with Angular's component architecture.
Pros
- Easy integration with Angular applications
- Responsive design out of the box
- Supports both Flexbox and CSS Grid layouts
- Extensive API for fine-grained control over layouts
Cons
- Learning curve for developers new to Flexbox and CSS Grid concepts
- Performance overhead for complex layouts with many nested elements
- Limited browser support for older versions (IE11 and below)
- Dependency on Angular framework limits its use in other environments
Code Examples
- Basic Flex Layout:
<div fxLayout="row" fxLayoutAlign="space-between center">
<div>Item 1</div>
<div>Item 2</div>
<div>Item 3</div>
</div>
This example creates a row layout with items spaced evenly and vertically centered.
- Responsive Grid Layout:
<div gdAreas="header header | sidebar content | footer footer"
gdGap="16px"
gdColumns="120px auto">
<div gdArea="header">Header</div>
<div gdArea="sidebar">Sidebar</div>
<div gdArea="content">Content</div>
<div gdArea="footer">Footer</div>
</div>
This code creates a responsive grid layout with defined areas for header, sidebar, content, and footer.
- Flex-based Responsive Design:
<div fxLayout="row" fxLayout.lt-md="column" fxLayoutGap="16px">
<div fxFlex="30%">Sidebar</div>
<div fxFlex="70%">Main Content</div>
</div>
This example demonstrates a responsive layout that changes from row to column on smaller screens.
Getting Started
-
Install the package:
npm install @angular/flex-layout
-
Import the FlexLayoutModule in your app.module.ts:
import { FlexLayoutModule } from '@angular/flex-layout'; @NgModule({ imports: [ FlexLayoutModule ], // ... }) export class AppModule { }
-
Use Flex Layout directives in your components:
<div fxLayout="row" fxLayoutAlign="start center"> <div fxFlex="20">Sidebar</div> <div fxFlex>Main Content</div> </div>
Competitor Comparisons
A showcase of problems once hard or impossible to solve with CSS alone, now made trivially easy with Flexbox.
Pros of solved-by-flexbox
- Framework-agnostic, can be used with any JavaScript library or framework
- Focuses on pure CSS flexbox solutions, making it lightweight and easy to understand
- Provides real-world examples and use cases for flexbox layouts
Cons of solved-by-flexbox
- Limited to flexbox-only solutions, not covering other layout techniques
- Less actively maintained compared to flex-layout
- Doesn't provide programmatic control over layouts like flex-layout does
Code Comparison
solved-by-flexbox:
.holy-grail {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
min-height: 100vh;
}
flex-layout:
<div fxLayout="column" fxLayoutAlign="start stretch" fxFill>
<!-- Content here -->
</div>
Summary
solved-by-flexbox offers pure CSS flexbox solutions that are framework-agnostic and easy to understand. It provides real-world examples but is limited to flexbox-only layouts and is less actively maintained. flex-layout, on the other hand, is tightly integrated with Angular, offering programmatic control over layouts and covering a wider range of layout techniques. The code comparison shows the difference between a pure CSS approach and the directive-based approach of flex-layout.
Grid based on CSS3 flexbox
Pros of Flexboxgrid
- Framework-agnostic, can be used with any JavaScript library or framework
- Lightweight and simple to implement, with a small learning curve
- Provides a grid system that's easy to understand and use
Cons of Flexboxgrid
- Less feature-rich compared to Flex-layout
- Limited responsive options and breakpoints
- Lacks advanced layout capabilities and Angular-specific optimizations
Code Comparison
Flexboxgrid:
<div class="row">
<div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-md-6 col-lg-4">
<!-- Content -->
</div>
</div>
Flex-layout:
<div fxLayout="row" fxLayout.xs="column">
<div fxFlex="100" fxFlex.gt-sm="50" fxFlex.gt-md="33">
<!-- Content -->
</div>
</div>
Flex-layout offers more granular control over layouts and responsiveness, utilizing Angular's directive system. Flexboxgrid relies on predefined CSS classes for its grid system, which can be easier to implement but less flexible.
Flex-layout is specifically designed for Angular applications, providing tight integration with the framework and offering responsive APIs. Flexboxgrid, being framework-agnostic, can be used in various contexts but lacks Angular-specific optimizations.
While Flexboxgrid is simpler to get started with, Flex-layout offers more power and flexibility for complex Angular applications, especially when dealing with responsive designs and dynamic layouts.
Modern CSS framework based on Flexbox
Pros of Bulma
- Framework-agnostic: Can be used with any JavaScript framework or vanilla HTML/CSS
- Simpler learning curve: Based on CSS classes, easier for beginners to pick up
- Comprehensive set of pre-built components: Includes navigation, cards, modals, etc.
Cons of Bulma
- Less flexible for complex layouts: Doesn't offer the same level of fine-grained control as Flex Layout
- No built-in responsive API: Requires manual media queries for responsive designs
Code Comparison
Bulma (CSS):
<div class="columns">
<div class="column is-one-third">First column</div>
<div class="column">Second column</div>
</div>
Flex Layout (TypeScript):
<div fxLayout="row">
<div fxFlex="33%">First column</div>
<div fxFlex>Second column</div>
</div>
Bulma uses CSS classes to define layout, while Flex Layout uses custom Angular directives. Flex Layout provides more programmatic control over layout, especially for responsive designs, but requires Angular. Bulma's approach is simpler and more universally applicable but less powerful for complex scenarios.
The most popular HTML, CSS, and JavaScript framework for developing responsive, mobile first projects on the web.
Pros of Bootstrap
- Extensive pre-built components and utilities
- Widely adopted with large community support
- Framework-agnostic, can be used with any JavaScript library or framework
Cons of Bootstrap
- Larger file size, potentially impacting page load times
- Less flexibility for custom layouts compared to Flex Layout
- Steeper learning curve for customization and overriding default styles
Code Comparison
Bootstrap:
<div class="container">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-6">Column 1</div>
<div class="col-md-6">Column 2</div>
</div>
</div>
Flex Layout:
<div fxLayout="row" fxLayoutAlign="space-between center">
<div fxFlex="50">Column 1</div>
<div fxFlex="50">Column 2</div>
</div>
Summary
Bootstrap offers a comprehensive set of pre-built components and utilities, making it suitable for rapid prototyping and development across various frameworks. It has a larger community and more extensive documentation. However, it comes with a larger file size and may require more effort to customize.
Flex Layout, being Angular-specific, provides a more streamlined approach to creating flexible layouts using Angular's directive system. It offers greater control over responsive designs but has a smaller ecosystem and is limited to Angular projects.
The choice between the two depends on the project requirements, team expertise, and whether the application is Angular-based or requires a more general-purpose CSS framework.
A utility-first CSS framework for rapid UI development.
Pros of Tailwind CSS
- Framework-agnostic, can be used with any JavaScript framework or vanilla HTML
- Highly customizable with a configuration file
- Extensive utility classes for rapid development
Cons of Tailwind CSS
- Steeper learning curve for developers used to traditional CSS
- Can lead to verbose HTML with many utility classes
- Requires additional build step for optimal performance
Code Comparison
Flex-Layout:
<div fxLayout="row" fxLayoutAlign="space-between center">
<div fxFlex="30%">Column 1</div>
<div fxFlex="30%">Column 2</div>
<div fxFlex="30%">Column 3</div>
</div>
Tailwind CSS:
<div class="flex flex-row justify-between items-center">
<div class="w-3/10">Column 1</div>
<div class="w-3/10">Column 2</div>
<div class="w-3/10">Column 3</div>
</div>
Flex-Layout is specifically designed for Angular applications, providing a set of layout APIs that work seamlessly with Angular's component-based architecture. It offers a more declarative approach to layout management.
Tailwind CSS, on the other hand, is a utility-first CSS framework that can be used with any front-end technology. It provides a large set of pre-defined utility classes that can be composed to create custom designs quickly.
While Flex-Layout uses custom Angular directives for layout control, Tailwind CSS relies on utility classes applied directly to HTML elements. This difference in approach affects both the development experience and the resulting markup structure.
A modern alternative to CSS resets
Pros of normalize.css
- Lightweight and focused on browser consistency
- Framework-agnostic, can be used with any project
- Widely adopted and well-maintained
Cons of normalize.css
- Limited to CSS normalization, doesn't provide layout tools
- Requires additional CSS for responsive design
- May conflict with other CSS frameworks or custom styles
Code Comparison
normalize.css:
html {
line-height: 1.15;
-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;
}
body {
margin: 0;
}
flex-layout:
import { FlexLayoutModule } from '@angular/flex-layout';
@NgModule({
imports: [FlexLayoutModule],
// ...
})
export class AppModule { }
Summary
normalize.css is a lightweight CSS reset library that aims to make default styling consistent across browsers. It's framework-agnostic and widely used in various web projects.
flex-layout, on the other hand, is an Angular-specific layout library that provides a flexible grid system and responsive design tools. It offers more advanced layout capabilities but is tied to the Angular ecosystem.
While normalize.css focuses on normalizing browser styles, flex-layout provides a comprehensive solution for creating responsive layouts in Angular applications. The choice between the two depends on the project requirements and the framework being used.
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Angular Flex-Layout
NOTE: The Angular team no longer publishes new releases of this project. Please review this blog post for alternatives, and this article for the explanation and next steps.
Angular Flex Layout provides a sophisticated layout API using Flexbox CSS + mediaQuery. This module provides Angular developers with component layout features using a custom Layout API, mediaQuery observables, and injected DOM flexbox-2016 CSS stylings.
The Flex Layout engine intelligently automates the process of applying appropriate Flexbox CSS to browser view hierarchies. This automation also addresses many of the complexities and workarounds encountered with the traditional, manual, CSS-only application of box CSS.
The real power of Flex Layout, however, is its responsive engine. The Responsive API enables developers to easily specify different layouts, sizing, visibilities for different viewport sizes and display devices.
Getting Started
Start by installing the Angular Layout library from npm
npm i -s @angular/flex-layout @angular/cdk
Next, you'll need to import the Layout module in your app's module.
app.module.ts
import { FlexLayoutModule } from '@angular/flex-layout';
...
@NgModule({
...
imports: [ FlexLayoutModule ],
...
});
After that is configured, you can use the Angular Layout attributes in your HTML tags for flex layout:
<div fxLayout="row" fxLayoutAlign="space-between">
</div>
Check out all of the available options for using Angular Layout in your application.
Quick Links
Demos
StackBlitz Templates
Developers
Browser Support
License
The sources for this package are in the Flex Layout repository.
Please file issues and pull requests against that repo.
License: MIT
Top Related Projects
A showcase of problems once hard or impossible to solve with CSS alone, now made trivially easy with Flexbox.
Grid based on CSS3 flexbox
Modern CSS framework based on Flexbox
The most popular HTML, CSS, and JavaScript framework for developing responsive, mobile first projects on the web.
A utility-first CSS framework for rapid UI development.
A modern alternative to CSS resets
Convert designs to code with AI
Introducing Visual Copilot: A new AI model to turn Figma designs to high quality code using your components.
Try Visual Copilot